Flexible gun mount



Aug. 18, 1936.V R. M. FERGUSON FLEXIBLE GUN MOUNT Filed May 17, 1933 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. 18, 1936. R. M. FERGUSON FLEXIBLE GUN MOUNT Filed May 17, 1953 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 www N T6 R ma a VG 7 mmm F/ f w s g5 lm Y 3 AB M523 W E .lnrl 3 4 T6 Q/nq Aug. 18, 1936. R. M. FERGUSON FLEXIBLE GUN MOUNT Filed May 17, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 l// wl INI/ENTOR M Ffesuso/v ATTORA/E KS Patented Aug. 18, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE (Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended April 30, 1928; 370 O. G. 757) 'I'he invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes, without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

The present invention relates to improvements in machine gun mounts particularly adapted for use on aircraft, the improved gun mount being designed to be mounted upon the top of the fuselage of an airplane.

Generally, the invention has reference to a simple and compact rotary support of an economical and practical nature which can be quickly and easily assembled and disassembled.

Many disadvantages have been found to exist in machine gun mounts generally in use in the past. The conventional observers gun turret used on airplane makes it impossible to` obtain a complete range or arc 'of re, especially under the fuselage and for a zone of considerable area, for the reason that the gun socket cannot be lowered over the side of the fuselage and carried below the level of the supporting ring or rail. 'I'hat leaves much to be desired i'n the respect above noted when installed in the cockpit of the average machine, whose cockpit is ordinarily about forty inches in depth, permitting the gun sight to be followed only about forty-ve degrees downwardly. Beyond or below that angle, the

' gun spade grip `swings upwardly above the gunners eye, and he depends entirely for sighting on 'following the tracer bullet. This latter is often effective enough at close ranges, but it is entirely unsatisfactory at longer ranges.

The present invention aims to overcome the objections above noted and at the same time provide a control for shifting the guns position by the operator, which same can be instantly accomplished and with ease to the operator.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a mount for machine guns or the like which will allow of greater facilities in ranging and firing of the gun than heretofore, especially without exposing the gunners body anymore thanA necessary.

A further object of the present invention is to 'provide in a gun mount of this character a gun mount mechanism including a recoil absorption device adapted to cushion the guns recoil during fire and thereby protect to a greater extent'the gunner and still permit greater accuracy in ring.

A. still further object of the present invention is to provide in a gun mount of the character referred to, a supporting ring or rail upon which the rgun is mounted and carried by means of a truck type carrier movable horizontally over its supporting rail and in which a single hand operated control lever is adapted to effect a release of the carriage from the supporting ring or rail.

A still further object of the present invention 5 is to provide a carrier with an adapter upon which the gun is mounted and including a compensating device to assist in balancing the weight of the gun when the gun and adapter are moved fore and aft with respect to the carriage.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide in a gun mount of this character, a gun mounting mechanism including a canting mechanism which permits of canting of the gun angularly through sufficient arcs to easily maintain the correct relation between gun sight position and the gunners line of vision.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement hereinafter fully described, illustrated and claimed.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side view of the gun mount and supporting rail as installed in theA gun turret of an airplane.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged side view partly in section of the gun adapter mechanism and gun carriage.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3 3 of Fig, 2.

Fig. 4 is a. sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a front elevation partly insection of th gun mounting yoke.

Fig. 6 is a section, showing an enlarged portion 35 of Fig. 2.

Referring more particularly to the drawings wherein corresponding parts are designated by like numerals throughout the several views thereof, numeral I0 indicates a fuselage structure of an airplane containing the usual gunners cockpit around which is placed a xed supporting ring or rail I I for the gun mount. It will be noted that the gun mount is located on the airplane fuselage over the gunners cockpit from which position the gunner trains the piece in all directions. By observing Flg. 1, it will be noted that the fixed ring or rail is supported on arms I2a secured to the fuselage by bolts l2 or in any other desired manner. It should also be noted that the rear portion of the ring is elevated substantially above the forward portion of the ring. By elevating the ring or rail in the manner illustrated in Fig. 1, it will be apparent that when the gun carriage to be hereinafter set forth in greater detail is mounted on the rail it will tend under the action 'of gravity to move forwardly toward the lower forward end of the rail. This tendency of the carriage to move forwardly on the ring compensates for the tendency of the gun carriage to be violently forced backward due to the action of the air stream, especially when the gun is being red broadside with respect to the air stream.

The gun mount comprises a gun carriage, designated generally by the numeral I3, and a gun support designated generally by numeral I4. The carriage I3 is generally U-shaped and comprises a body portion or back plate I5 and upper and lower arm portions I6 and I1 respectively extending outwardly from the body portion I5 which are adapted to embrace the rail II as shown in Fig. 2. These arm portions contain anti-friction rollers I6 which are rotatably mounted in suitable truck-type supports carried by said arm portions and bear against the top, bottom, and opposite sides of the rail II as illustrated in Fig. 4. This enables the carriage to be moved longitudinally of the rail with perfect freedom.

In order to hold the carriage stationary when firing, I make use of a pair of clamping members indicated by numeral I9, said clamping members being connected by pivots to the arm portions I6 and I1, respectively of the carriage I3. As will be noted by referring to Fig. 2, these clamping members extend over and embrace the extremities of the rail I I. The inner ends 2l of these clamping members are pivotally connected to the toggle joint links 22 shown in Fig. 4. The links 22 are arranged to extend toward one another in opposing relation, each being provided with a projecting lug portion 23 which contacts with set screws 24, screwed through threaded openings in the back plate I5 of the gun carriage. By turning the set screws 24, wear may be compensated for between the clamping members and the rail I I. The free ends of the links 22 are provided with lips 25 and 26 which are engaged by a pair of floating cams 21 carried by transversely extending stub shafts 28 suitably journaled in the body portion of the gun carriage. The outer ends of the stub shafts 28 extend through the sides of the body portion of the carriage and have conveniently attached thereto a handle indicated by the numeral 29, dependingl downwardly, and in the normal position out of the way of the gunne; As shown in Fig. 3, coiled springs 30 are mounted on the stub shafts 28 and have their one ends attached to said stub shaft and their vother ends securely anchored to the body portion of the carriage I3 and to normally maintain the handle in the downward position.` It should also be noted that the clamping members have secured therebetween a spring 3I in order that the lips 25 and 26 of the links 22 will be atall times in operative engagement with the cams 21. Moving thehandle upwardly tends to releasek the clampingmembers and permits the gun carriage to be'adjusted longitudinally with respect'to the ring or rail II." Upon releasingl thev handle, the clamping membersv are vrestored to riage along itssupportin'g rail', either'the gunr sup- I .port or carriage may lbe released to permit the f gunner toswing the gun to'anydesired firing Position.V f l The gun support- I4`com`prises generally adapter arms3.2 provided with ajlower bearing portion 33fwhich is journalled upon'a horizontally diS- posed shuiJ 34 provided in the upper end of the gun carriage I3. Intermediate its ends the bearing portion 33 is formed with gear teeth 35 adapted for meshing engagement with the gear teeth of a vertically extending gear rack 36. The lower end of the gear rack 36 is provided with an internal splined bore 31 within which is mounted a rotatable splined shaft 38. The lower end of this shaft is formed with a circular flanged portion indicated by numeral 39. The upper half of the peripheral edge of this flanged portion 39 is 'formed with right hand ratchet teeth 4U, while the lower half is provided with left hand ratchet teeth indicated by numeral 4I.

Control of this ratcheting` arrangement is effected through manipulation of a plunger 42, formed with the lugs 43 and 44 respectively which are adapted to engage in the ratchet pieces 40 and 4I heretofore mentioned. To accomplish such purpose the rear end of the plunger 42 is operatively engaged by a coiled spring 45, the other or opposite end of said spring bearing against the end of a bore 46 formed in the lower end of the carriage as shown in Fig. 2. The

plunger is operated through the medium of a flex-v ible control cable indicated by numeral 41 which extends through the casing 48 and terminates in a trip mechanism generally indicated by numeral 49, positioned on the spade grip 50 of the machine gun where it is convenient for the gunner to effect a release of the ratchet mechanism without detracting his attention while training and ring the gun.

The gear rack 36 is also provided with an upper shoulder 5I which bears against a oating collar 52. At its lower end the gear rack is provided with a fianged portion 53 normally bearing against a shoulder 54 formed internally in a floating bushing 55v which surrounds the lower end of the rack 36. In a similar manner the bushing 54 is formed with a lower shoulder 56 as shown in Fig. 6. Intermediate this shoulder 56 and the collar 52,'a compression spring 51 is interposed, the spring being so designed that when the gun adapter 1arm 32 is in the normal ring position shown in Fig. l, the spring is carried freely between shoulder 56 and floating collar 52 and under no compression. By means of such arrangement, should the gunner desire to train the gun upwardly in order to re upon an object above the airplane, the adapter arm will be moved rearwardly and downwardly in the dotted line position, as illustrated in Fig. l. At the same time the gear rack 36 will be moved vertically upwardly in the dotted line position illustrated in Fig. 2. When this occurs, the shoulder 56 will be moved upwardly by the gearrack. At this time the upper end of the compression spring is held in xed position by the floating collar 5I and consequently the spring will be compressed. `On the other hand, with the gun adapter. arm in vthe normal ring yposition as illustrated in Fig.` 1, should the gunner desire .to train lthe gun downwardly in order to fire upon an object beneath the airplane, the adapter arm will `be rmoved yforwardly and downwardly into the .dot and=dash=position illustrated in Fig. 1. Atthis time the upper shoulder 5I :in moving downwardly as the gearrack is moved downwardly `will bear against theiloatingM ing lugs 43 and 44 into or out of engagement with the ratchet teeth.

Hence, it will be seen lthat either forward or rearward movement of the adapter arm with re-.

spect to the carriage will effect a compression of the spring 51 and should the gunner desire to returnl the gun to normal ring position, this same may be accomplished through the medium of the trip mechanism heretofore mentioned. The Yadapter arm 32 carries apost 56as illustrated in Fig. 2 which is vertically disposed with respect to the adapter arms 32 and is provided with abearing portion 59. A gun yoke 60 is provided which is formed at its lower end with a journal 6l which fits within the bearing portion 59 heretofore mentioned. The gun yoke is generally fork-shaped and includes the arm portions 62 and 63 which are adapted to extend upwardly along each side of the gun. The upper ends of the arms of the gun yoke are provided with'horlzontally disposed bearing portions 64 and 65 within which is adapted to be received the journals 66 which extend diametrically outwardly from a mounting ring generally indicated by numeral 61. This mounting ring 61 is formed with a forwardly extending tubular portion 68 over which is adapted to be slidably mounted the front end of a mounting yo-ke 69 including spaced side plates 10 and 1I, each of these side plates being provided with an inwardlyextending lug 12 and 13 respectively adapted for receiving the gun trunnions indicated by the numeral 14. The rear end of the mounting ring 61 bears against the gun in the manner illustrated in Fig. 2. A compression spring 15 surrounds the tubular portion 68 of the mounting ring, the forward and rearward ends of which are positioned under compression against the rear end of the mounting yoke 69, and the annular flange 16 formed on the mounting ring 61. 'I'his arrangement permits of a canting action of thegun right or left from its normally horizontally disposed position, as shown in dotted outline in Fig. 5, throughout suflicient arcs to easily maintain a correct relation between the gun sight position and the gunners line of vision.

`At the same time the gun recoil during firing is substantially completely absorbed through the is extremely desirable that the gun be capable of being maneuvered quickly and easily in any direction in order to train the gun upon the object to be iired upon.

By means of the construction herein shown and describedthe gunner is `able to train the gun downwardly over the fuselage to the proper level to enable his' eye to follow the sight over the spade gri when'vying straight downwardly and even under eath the fuselage. A high position of the machine gun may also be obtained by moving the adapter arm rearwardly in the manner heretofore described in order to permit the gunner to ire upon objects above the plane. The gun weight is at all times counterbalanced by the spring 51, while the clamping members enable the gun carriage and gun support to be clamped and released instantly at the will of the operator and by an intuitive movement of the control handle. Though primarily intended for the gun grip of an airplane, or other craft, it will be readily seen that the gun mount may be fixed to any convenient sight, whether a building, a ship, or otherwise. a'nd it will work in substantially the same way and will have the same advantages. j

This invention also enables the gunner to keep more within the airplane body than has heretofore been feasible up to the present time; there is no need for him to throw his head and shoulders well out for the purpose of balancing the gun against the wind pressure when flying in order to enabley hlm to swing the gun around;

Vthis extra headresistance slows the machine in practice, whereas, with my invention very little head resistance is eected when in action, and

practically none when the gun is out of action, 9

because of the compact arrangement of the entire apparatus.

The several features of the present invention are not limited to the precise construction and arrangement of devices described, and it is to be understood that many modications and changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of this invention or of the bonds in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

l. In a gun support for use on aircraft, the combination of a supporting rail, a U-shaped carrier movable along said rail, a single spring actuated controlling device operating automatically to lock said carrier in adjusted position relative to its supporting rail and embodying spring controlled clamping members oppositeiy disposed on the free ends of said U-shaped carrier adapted to embrace and yieldingly engage the upper and lower surfaces of said rail, a hand operated lever pivotally mounted on said carrier. toggle joint connections between said lever and clamping members, cammirrg elements operated by movement of said hand lever adapted for simultaneously operating said toggle4 joint connections to lock or unlock said clamping members, andv means for adjusting said toggle joint connections to eiect an equalized clamping action of said clamping members.

2. In a gun support for use on aircraft, the combination of a supporting rail, a U-shaped carrier movable along said rail, a single spring actuated controlling device operating automatical- ,ly to lock said carrier in adjusted positions relative to its supporting rail and embodying clamping members oppositeiy disposed on the free ends of said U-shaped carrier adapted to embrace and 'engage the upper and lower surfaces of said rail, a hand operated lever pivotally mounted on said carrier, toggle joint connections between said lever and clamping members, camming elements operated by movement of said hand lever adapted for simultaneously actuating. said toggle joint connections to lock or unlock said clamping members, and means for adjusting said toggle joint connections to effect an equalized clamping action of said clamping members, said means comprising a plurality of set screws engaging the free end of said toggle joint connections to effect an adjustment of either or both of said clamping members.

3. In a gun support for use on aircraft., the combination of a supporting rail, a U-shaped carrier movable along said rail, means operating automatically to locksaid carrier in adjusted positions-relative to its' supporting rail and embodying' clamping vmembers' oppositely disposed on the free ends of said U-shaped carrier adapted to embrace and engage the upper and lower surfaces of said rail, and means pivotally mountedon said carrier for supporting said gun thereon, said means including a pinion and rack arrangement permitting angular' movement of saidv gun about a horizontal axis, a counterbalancingmeansV actuated by movement of said gun to compensate for the Weight of said gun, said means comprising a single yieldable element mounted `in a manner such as to be increasingly compressible when said gun is moved angularly in fore-and-aft directions.

4. In a gun support for use on aircraft, the

combination of a supporting rail, a U-shapedcarrier movable along said rail, means operating automatically to lock/saidcar-rierY in adjusted positions relative to its supporting rail and embodying clamping members oppositely disposed on the free ends of said U-shaped carrier adapted to embrace and engage the upper and lower surfaces of said rail, an adapter arm pivotally mounted on said carrier for movement about a horizontal axis'to permit angular movement of said gun from normal firing positions, a pinion carried by said adapter arm, a gear rack engaging said pinion, a single compressible element housed in said carrier, and means operatively associated with said ,element and controlled by movement of' said gear rack for compressing'said spring and compensate for the weight of the gun when moved angularly fore-and-aft from its normal firing position.

5. In a gun support for use on aircraft, the combination of a supporting rail, a U-shaped carrier movable along said rail, means operating tively associated with said element and controlled by movement of said gear rack for compressing said spring and compensate .for the weight of the gun when moved angularly fore-and-ait from its normal ring position, and means. for releasably securing said adapter arm in any position' 'of angular adjustment of said carrier.-

6. In a gun support for use on aircraft, the combination of a supporting rail, a U-shaped carrier movable along said rail, means operating automatically to lock Said carrier in adjusted positions relative to its supporting rail and em- 5 bodying clamping members oppositely disposed on the free ends of said U-shaped carrier adapted to embrace and engage the upper and lower surfaces of said rail, an adapter arm mounted for movement about a horizontal axis on said carrier to permit fore and aft movement of said gun from normal firing position, counterbalancing means cooperating withrsaid carrier to compensate for the weight of said supported gun, said means comprising a single compressible element housed 15 in said carrier, means operatively associated with said element and controlled by movement of said adapter arm by compressing said spring and compensating for the weight of the gun when moved angularly fore-and-aft from its normal firing position, and a double acting ratchet mechanism cooperating with said compensating meansV for locking said adapter arm in any fore and aft 'position with respect to said carrier.

'7. In 'a gun support as set forth in claim 6, 25 said double acting ratchet mechanism being characterized by including a remote control device positioned adjacent the trigger mechanism of said gun;l 30

8. In a gun'support for use on aircraft, the combination of a ysupporting rail, a U-shaped carrier movable along said rail, means operating automatically to lock sai-d carrier in adjusted position relative to its supporting rail and embodying clamping members oppositely disposed on the free ends of said U-shaped carrier adapted t0 embrace and engage the upper and lower surfaces of said rail, an adapter arm mounted for movement about a horizontal axis on said carrier to permit fore and aft movement of said 40 gun from norm-al firing position, compensating means for counterbalancing the weight oi' said gun and for automatically effecting a return movement to normal firing position, said means comprising a pinion, a vertically disposed gear 4 l rack engaging said pinion, a single compressible element housed in said carrier, means operatively associated with said element and controlled by movement of said .gear rack for compressing said spring and compensate for the weight of the gun when moved angularly fore-and-aft from its normal ringlposition, and a double acting ratchet mechanism operated by movement of said gear rack forlocking said adapter arm in any fore and aft position with respect to said carrier.

' RALPH M. FERGUSON. 

